Welsh Liberal Democrats Councillor for Cwmbwrla Ward, City and County of Swansea - Visit my main website at www.peterblack.wales

Monday, May 07, 2012

Keeping our distance

It would be nice if Nick Clegg made more of the fact that of all the political parties, it was the Liberal Democrats who kept Rupert Murdoch and News International at the end of a very long stick. In contrast both Labour and the Tories seem to be up to their necks in mire.

This news item in today's Telegraph underlines that point. They report on claims that Andy Coulson held shares in News Corporation while he worked in Downing Street as a senior adviser to the Prime Minister. They suggest that this holding means that the fomer No 10 communications director would have profited from the Murdoch film's full takeover of BSkyB,and that this raises questions over potential conflicts of interest.

According to the Independent on Sunday, Mr Coulson is believed to have been given the shares as part of his leaving package from the News of the World.

It also puts a new slant on Vince Cable's faux pas when he let slip to undercover reporters that he was opposed to the takeover of BSkyB, something that he feels that he can now talk about:

In an interview with Sky on Sunday, the Business Secretary Vince Cable said he felt “vindicated” by his stance on BSkyB.

“I certainly do feel vindicated, and I certainly dealt with it in an entirely proper and fair way,” said Mr Cable, who said he had “declared war” on Rupert Murdoch in 2010.

Mr Cable decided not to resign from the government following the publication of his remarks and, at the time, said that he apologised for the embarrassment and “fully” accepted Mr Cameron’s decision to hand the quasi-judicial role on the BSkyB deal to the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

It is time other Liberal Democrat Ministers were more vocal in condemning the way that successive Labour and Conservative governments cosied up to Rupert Murdoch.

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